


Secrets of Grimpen Mire

by Tendergingergirl



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-15
Packaged: 2019-10-10 19:24:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17432066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tendergingergirl/pseuds/Tendergingergirl
Summary: January 25, 2018





	Secrets of Grimpen Mire

##  **Butterflies, Sexual Deviancy & The Bloodline Theory in The Hound of The Baskervilles**

  


The Hound of The Baskervilles, one of the most celebrated and beloved of the Sherlock Holmes adventures has been enjoyed by young and old alike. For a child, the Hound is a full and satisfying, scary bedtime story. For an adult, well…let’s just say the subject matters within the Hound of The Baskervilles become a lot more complicated.

In **Pursuing Sherlock Holmes** , writer Bill Mason tackles the story of the Hound from Grimpen Mire, coming up with truly remarkable results.

**Atavism** also known as Reversion, or the tendency to revert to Ancestral Type. These were traits that had disappeared long ago, but make a comeback in an individual. These people were referred to as ‘Throwbacks’. Atavism was the reasoning given for inherited traits before the discovery of Genes came about. Hounds explores the concept of Atavism, as related to inheriting criminal behavior. The idea comes from an Italian Criminologist by the name of Cesare Lombroso, a controversial figure, who stated that a person could be born into criminality. Even though his ideas have been long dismissed, 'Resurgent Atavism’ made a comeback, as in someone reverting back to a way of thinking and behaving that was a throwback to a long time past. This idea is found also in The Lord of The Flies. In the story, Dr. Mortimer’s credentials show him to be an expert on the subject. Holmes, himself, has what he calls the 'Bloodline Theory’, which is discussed, along with Atavism in **The Greek Interpreter**. He describe his theory in The Empty House.

_“There are some trees, Watson, which grow to a certain height and then suddenly develop some unsightly eccentricity. You will see it often in humans. I have a theory that the individual represents in his development the whole procession of his ancestors, and that such a sudden turn to good or evil stands for some strong influence which came into the line of his pedigree. The person becomes, as it were, the epitome of the history of his own family.”_

Just as he believed his and Mycroft’s intellectual abilities were inherited, so too, did he believe that Moriarty was the recipient of a criminal strain in his bloodline. This subject also pops up in **The Lion’s Mane** and **The Speckled Band** , in relation to the Roylett family. The incredible way Doyle attacks this subject is not through showcasing Duality within one person, but in the contrast between two members of the same family, within the same generation. Mason uses the example of the biblical story of Cain & Able. He highlights the differences in nature between Sir Charles and the 'black sheep’ Roger, and Mrs. Barrymore and her brother Seldon. So, the Hound explores the good & evil that exists within The Baskerville family.

**Sex** …of the deviant, disgusting kind is apparently the real curse of the Baskervilles. The legend of Sir Hugo Baskerville reveals it’s beginnings.

”… _this Manor of_ _Baskerville was held by Hugo of that name, nor can it be_ _gainsaid that he was a most wild, profane, and godless_ _man. This, in truth, his neighbours might have pardoned,_ _seeing that saints have never flourished in those parts,_ _but there was in him a certain wanton and cruel humour_ _which made his name a by-word through the West. It_ _chanced that this Hugo came to love (if, indeed, so dark_ _a passion may be known under so bright a name) the daughter_ _of a yeoman who held lands near the Baskerville estate._ _But the young maiden, being discreet and of good repute,_ _would ever avoid him, for she feared his evil name. So_ _it came to pass that one Michaelmas this Hugo, with five_ _or six of his idle and wicked companions, stole down upon_ _the farm and carried off the maiden, her father and_ _brothers being from home, as he well knew. When they had_ _brought her to the Hall the maiden was placed in an upper_ _chamber, while Hugo and his friends sat down to a long_ _carouse, as was their nightly custom. Now, the poor lass_ _upstairs was like to have her wits turned at the singing_ _and shouting and terrible oaths which came up to her from_ _below, for they say that the words used by Hugo Baskerville,_ _when he was in wine, were such as might blast the man who_ _said them. At last in the stress of her fear she did that_ _which might have daunted the bravest or most active man,_ _for by the aid of the growth of ivy which covered (and_ _still covers) the south wall she came down from under the_ _eaves, and so homeward across the moor, there being three_ _leagues betwixt the Hall and her father’s farm.“_

This tale is a reflection of Medieval Times, when powerful feudal Lords would regularly take any maiden they chose that lived on their property, to their beds. but Hugo was much worse, heavily hinted at in the legend as being 'wanton and cruel’. The pheasant girl _'feared his evil name’._ The _'terrible oaths’_ , she heard spoken by Hugo and his drunk friends caused her great fear. According to Mason, there was more than rape in store for the girl. _'Other worse things’_ were in store; sadistic torture, and most likely, a gang-raping. She escapes, but Sir Hugo gives chase. Three men find the bodies of the girl and Sir Hugo. The Hound, representing in this story, sexual perversion, had killed him.

Most interesting is that Mason treats the Moor like it’s own character; a dangerous place with deadly secrets. He names both the hound and the Moor as allegories. The hound, representing the sexual perversions, _ie_ , 'the real curse’ of the family. This is nothing new in Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories, where a dark, dangerous animal or character is cast as the reflection of the dark nature of the main villain. I came across this pattern in [The Cat & Hound](https://tendergingergirl.tumblr.com/post/163909220436/the-cat-the-hound). The Moor is 'the uncharted and unmentionable urges that provide a habitat where the Hound, representing those actual sexual perversions can exist’. Stapleton admits that 'there are few men who know it as well as I do’. At one point, Stapleton looks at Watson 'with a curious expression on his face' and says _"Queer place, the Moor.”_ Well.

##  _Now Comes The Best Part: **Stapleton The Collector**  _

Fast forward from evil Hugo to Roger Baskerville aka Stapleton, the very image of old Hugo, a 'throwback’. The comment is made that _'he was too hot for England to hold him’_ , which Mason takes to mean that Roger had indulged in his sadistic passions in London and that his actions were covered up by his rich family, in exchange for him leaving. Stapleton is a truly troubled character. Also, according to Mason, Watson’s own description of Stapleton as 'neutral-tinted’, and 'colorless’, along with his physical description, suggest that of a man’s who’s sexuality _'could go in either direction’_. Plus, there are more dark secrets, as he recounts an innocent story of how he and his fake sister, as the Vandaleurs, ran a boy’s school, with tragic results, including the deaths of three students  ( _Holmes recounts a much different version!_ )

Stapleton also has a hobby. He collects bugs…Butterflies, to be exact. This can often be seen as purely academic, but depending on the actions of the hobbyist, they can indicate more disturbing things. That of holding something vulnerable captive, treating it as your hostage, pinning it down. The torture of animals has come to be a good indicator of someone who would do this to a human. He had already shown callousness by laughing as he recounts to Holmes of ponies wandering onto the Moor, becoming trapped, and dying. In 1974, there was a release of a new edition of Sherlock Holmes stories, with the forward of **The Hound of The Baskervilles** written by British author, [John Fowles](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FJohn_Fowles&t=MjRkZDEzMzIxMTE5NjdjNzQ2ZjIyNWM1ZTY0MWI0MzEwMGZlNTUzMixlQWlCZ2ZtNA%3D%3D&b=t%3A99US-dd59KEFK-T_oX2E5Q&p=https%3A%2F%2Ftendergingergirl.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F170120088126%2Fsecrets-of-grimpen-mire&m=1). He is responsible for several well-known works, including **The French Lieutenant’s Wife**. Another, was a novel that Mason finds himself wondering why Fowles doesn’t mention in his introduction, since the villain is such a close parallel to Stapleton. **(but as we have learned through the study of ACD, most writers will not come right out and say where they got their inspiration. They like for you to guess!)**

A lonely young man, works as a clerk, and collects butterflies, becomes obsessed with a pretty young girl, Miranda, an art student. He chloroforms, and kidnaps her, taking her to his cellar basement, to add Miranda to his collection. That book was called **[The Collector](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FThe_Collector&t=M2NmNTI5NDdmZmE3MTc1MDgyMDQ3Nzg5YTlkYTIwNTU4ZTZlY2NhYyxlQWlCZ2ZtNA%3D%3D&b=t%3A99US-dd59KEFK-T_oX2E5Q&p=https%3A%2F%2Ftendergingergirl.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F170120088126%2Fsecrets-of-grimpen-mire&m=1)**.  **But what else does it sound like?**

“So yes, I googled. From an [article](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fvariety.com%2F2001%2Fdigital%2Ffeatures%2Fthe-silence-of-the-lambs-3-1200469636%2F&t=NWFhMzU5YWEzZjJiYzQ3OWExYjg3YjlmMWY1MmEzYWU1NjBjYTk2ZixlQWlCZ2ZtNA%3D%3D&b=t%3A99US-dd59KEFK-T_oX2E5Q&p=https%3A%2F%2Ftendergingergirl.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F170120088126%2Fsecrets-of-grimpen-mire&m=1) on the release of the movie’s Documentary. _"The docu proves a poor reference point for anyone who wants to understand the literary and movie links for “Lambs.” There’s no mention, for example, of how Harris partly based the butterfly-loving Bill on John Fowles’ kidnapper in “The Collector” **…And here I thought Mofftiss added allusions to Silence of The Lambs into Sherlock just for fun. SMH.**_

There have been many parallels found between Silence & Sherlock, from [@isitandwonder](https://tmblr.co/mFsqQSE2JWjcYbaG45JmOgw) in [im-just-casually-watching-silence-of-the-lambs](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fim-just-casually-watching-silence-of-the-lambs&t=N2RhYWJlZmVlYzQ1YWUxODRhYmRkZGRmYjQ3NDc3ZWZhMDE3NzM0NSxlQWlCZ2ZtNA%3D%3D&b=t%3A99US-dd59KEFK-T_oX2E5Q&p=https%3A%2F%2Ftendergingergirl.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F170120088126%2Fsecrets-of-grimpen-mire&m=1), and through a meta I did a while back, [the-2001-saint-emillion](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fthe-2001-saint-emillion&t=MWM5Y2FlYTM0M2E1NzE1MjM2MzljMjNlZmY3MjNmYTQxOGFlYTUzNCxlQWlCZ2ZtNA%3D%3D&b=t%3A99US-dd59KEFK-T_oX2E5Q&p=https%3A%2F%2Ftendergingergirl.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F170120088126%2Fsecrets-of-grimpen-mire&m=1) . So, it would seem that Roger Baskerville was an inspiration for Fowles’ deviant in **The Collector** , which then became a direct source for **Silence of The Lambs**. Wow.

Bill Mason has much more to reveal about ACD’s Hound, but I’ll save the spoilers. This is not even a large book but it packs so much. I highly recommend adding  **Pursuing Sherlock Holmes**  to any Sherlockian collection.

**_ONE LAST THING._ **

**ARTHUR**   Roman, _Noble, Courageous. Celtic, Bear_

**CONAN** Celtic, _High, Wise._ Gaelic _, Little Wolf, Hound_

**DOYLE** Gaelic, _Black, Dark Stranger_

**_Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Original Hound._ **

 


End file.
